Memories
by Abbl2
Summary: A series of oneshots depicting happy and sad memories from when Harry was a baby. Marauders are all included.
1. Christmas

**Disclaimer: i dont own Harry potter or anything related to him.**

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_Christmas at the Potters; Harry's first._

The joy in the room was infectious. Wrapping paper lay strewn about the floor surrounding the many gifts exchanged. James had received that new Quidditch book from Sirius, a new pair of glasses from his wife along with a watch with her and Harry's picture in it (which was by far his favorite), a photo album from Remus, and a cloak from Peter. Lily had received a locket from James with his and Harry's picture in it which she wore around her neck, an advanced book of charms from Remus, a similar cloak to which James had gotten from Peter, and from Sirius she had gotten a necklace with the letter _M_ on the chain for Marauders, since it had been decided that she was officially a Marauder now. But as much as James and Lily appreciated their gifts from their friends, it was Harry who'd been spoiled.

Harry had received a _My First Flying Broomstick_ as well as a plushy quaffle since everyone had agreed that he was going to be a chaser. He had gotten several Quidditch bedtime stories and also one about a friendly werewolf from Remus since James and Lily eventually had to tell Harry about his uncle Moony's "furry little problem." He'd also gotten a plushy dog, stag, rat and wolf, all of which were sitting at his feet as he was playing with the wrapping paper. At five months, he was just starting to sit up, but with all of these toys around, no one could fathom why he was choosing to play with the wrapping paper. He was also given a _My First Wand_ that just blew brightly colored sparks when it was shaken and a basic spell book for when he was older from Remus.

It had been a very successful Christmas at the Potters. Sirius and Peter had both shown up wearing a Santa Claus costume with their bag of gifts slung over their shoulder, and were both surprised when they came in and saw the other one wearing it, much to everyone else's amusement. Now, all four best friends were trying to win Harry's attention with dazzling shows of their wands, but Harry was content just playing with the wrapping paper, and gave neither his father, nor his friends, any of his attention, which was just making them try harder.

Lily stood in the kitchen watching and laughing at her boys and starting to prepare Christmas dinner, which knowing her cooking was sure to be a feast. She fingered her locket as she cooked, occasionally opening it all the way in order to look at her husband and son smiling back at her; the two most important people in her world.

Around three thirty, Harry started whining a little bit, wanting to be fed. So, Lily took him and sat in the dining room to give him his bottle while James, Sirius, Remus and Peter stayed in the living room to talk.

"Remember all of the Christmas' at Hogwarts?" asked Sirius. James grinned wildly.

"How could we forget," he exclaimed. "Our seventh year you almost blew up the Christmas tree."

"And in our third year, during the feast you managed to sneak those snakes onto all of the Slytherin's plates," Remus chimed in, and shook his head. "How did you manage to get that past the house elves, anyway?" James laughed loudly.

"That, Moony," he explained, "is a secret that cannot be divulged, for Sirius and I made a pact. Didn't we, Padfoot? Or should I start calling you Padfoo' now, seeing as how Harry likes it so much?"

"That is Harry's special nickname for me, and no one but him may call me by that name," Sirius growled, completely serious. "And yes Moony, Jamsey and I did make a pact that we must never give that information to anyone, not even a fellow marauder. Tis one of our greatest accomplishments, and we wish for it to remain a mystery." Remus rolled his eyes as Lily walked into the room with a smiling Harry in her arms.

"You guys are so weird," she said, smacking Sirius lightly on the back of the head.

"Oy!" Sirius exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"Don't you know?" James exclaimed. "That's how she shows affection." That earned him a glare and a smack from his wife. Wincing, James held up his arms and said, "See!"

Lily sighed and handed Harry off to James, who immediately began to make faces at his son to try and make him laugh. However it was Sirius, Remus and Peter who were laughing.

"You know, James," Sirius chuckled. "One of these days, your face is going to freeze like that, and then it won't be just Harry who's laughing." James apparently didn't hear what Sirius had said and looked up at him, still making a face for Harry.

"What?" he asked. His eyes were wide open, he was cross-eyed, and his lips were puckered with his mouth rounded into an O. The other three men were rolling on the floor laughing, and Lily's hand was covering her mouth as she was failing to suppress her own laughter. James' face returned to normal.

"What was so funny?" he asked. Lily patted his shoulder.

"Nothing sweetheart," she said. "Nothing at all.

At 5 o'clock, dinner was ready. Lily and the boys made their way into the extravagant dining room and sat at the table. Harry was sitting in his highchair, which had been brought in from the kitchen.

Dinner was much quieter than earlier that day. There wasn't much talk, and when they were talking, it was complimenting Lily's cooking or business about the order and the upcoming war.

After dinner, the four best friends said goodbye to each other and to Harry and Lily and each of them flooed out, each promising they'd be back in a few days for the new year. As soon as they were gone, and Harry was put to bed, James wrapped his arms around Lily from behind and kissed her neck, pulling her onto the couch.

"Merry Christmas Lily," James said, now kissing her hair. Lily nestled up against him.

"Merry Christmas James," Lily whispered back.


	2. Halloween

_Halloween_

**A/N: I skipped back to earlier that year when Harry was just a few months old. This is his 1****st**** Halloween, not **_**that**_** Halloween. Just thought I'd clarify.**

"Why won't this stupid thing go on?" James said, frustrated as he tried to get his 3 month old son into his frog costume. Harry, however, had other plans, and he was squirming around, evading his father's every attempt to put on the costume.

"Lily!"

"What?"

"Help us please?"

Harry's mother and James' wife Lily was in her room putting on her robes. It was a joke that had turned into a tradition where the wizards and witches in Godric's Hallow would wear their wizarding robes on Halloween, since it was the only time of year where they could get away with wearing them on the streets without being questioned or stared at. For the rest of the year they wore muggle clothes. But on this one night, they could dress up as themselves. They would even throw in a pointy hat for the occasion. James was already in his, and he was supposed to be changing Harry so that Lily could get ready.

Lily had just been securing her hat when she heard her husband's distress call. She sighed and put the hat down to go and help James. When she arrived in the nursery, she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

Harry had one arm in the leg of the frog costume, and it was bent and twisted around so that his foot went out the hole his head was supposed to go in. James' glasses were askew, his wand was out and everything that had previously been on the changing table was now on the floor. James sent his wife a pleading look.

"Please?" he said pitifully.

Lily stifled another giggle and made her way to her son's changing table. She removed the costume so that Harry was just in his diaper, and he was lying on his back innocently looking up at her, his wide green eyes blameless.

"Were you causing trouble, little man?" Lily cooed. Harry giggled. James glared.

"Yes," he said. "He wouldn't stop squirming. I couldn't get that thing on him if you paid me!" he exclaimed, pointing at the offending green thing.

"Oh relax," Lily said. "I'm sure he was just playing." James just huffed and sat down in the rocking chair.

"I give up," he said and crossed his arms. Lily just held in another urge to laugh as she effortlessly changed Harry into his very green frog costume.

"Remind me the next time we go clothes shopping for him that green is most definitely his color," Lily said, smiling as she pulled up the hood of the costume, causing his messy black hair to fall into his eyes. "And remind me to get him a haircut."

James laughed loudly, and unconsciously ruffled his own black Potter hair as he stood up. "Face it, Lil's, you can never tame it. It's wild and free." Lily picked up her son and kissed his forehead.

"Doesn't mean I can't try," she exclaimed as she cradled him, pushing his hair out of his eyes, which just immediately fell back much to Lily's dismay. James rolled his eyes.

"Good luck with that," he said. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Lily smirked. "I'll keep that in mind," she said. James nodded and held out his arm.

"Ready to go?" he asked. Lily was about to nod and take his arm, but then remembered.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "My hat!"

She quickly handed Harry to James and raced to her room to pick up her hat. She hurried back to James to find him making baby noises and kissy-faces at their son as he tossed him around, and Harry was giggling wildly. He didn't even notice her standing by the doorway of the nursery. She put her hand to her mouth and just watched her two boys, her favorite boys in the entire world. James was oblivious to everything but his son and Harry was happy and smiling, thrilled at being tossed in the air by his father. This was a precious moment, and with the war going on, these young parents weren't getting many of those. Their days were fear filled, and Lily wished this blissful moment could last forever.

Finally, a tearful, smiling Lily cleared her throat. James, upon hearing his wife stopped abruptly, looking concerned. Harry looked up at his father, wondering why their game had stopped.

"Don't you two think it's about time we went trick-or-treating?" Lily said excitedly. "Come on! Its Harry's first Halloween! Let's get going!"

James smiled and held out his arm. "Shall we go?" Lily took it.

"We shall." And with that, the little family made their way to the streets of Godric's Hallow.

James' three best friends would've been there with them accept that it was a full moon tonight. Remus needed them. The only reason James wasn't with him tonight was that it was his sons first Halloween, and there had been quite a scare last month when something had triggered James' transformation, and had almost been killed by Remus in werewolf form. Remus had been depressed for days and wouldn't rest until James said he would sit out this time. That plus the fact that they were in hiding and weren't actually supposed to be out and about had something to do with why he was with his family instead of his friends this Halloween. Not that he was complaining. However much he was worried about his friend, he trusted Sirius and Peter to be able to handle Remus without the stag's help. Remus was getting much more "tame" around his friends in their animal forms. But they were staying in the shrieking shack just to be safe tonight.

Lily pulled James from his thoughts with a tug on his arm. "James! I see the others!" she exclaimed. "Let's go talk to them!"

But James put his arm on her to calm her down. "Lily," he said softly. "We can't be seen by anyone, you know that. We're waiting for the other members of the Order to show up with their kids." Lily sighed.

"I know," she said dejectedly. "I just forget sometimes. It's lonely, this isolation. I miss going out sometimes."

James kissed her forehead. "I know sweetheart," he said. "I do too. Oh, but look! I see Marlene! And Frank! Look at how big Neville has gotten!" And with that they hurried over to their friends in the Order.

It was a fun night. The couple spent most of the time showing off Harry and exchanging baby tips along with news from the Order while the older kids went to doors for candy. The little family of three arrived home after 10 that evening exhausted. They flopped onto the couch with a sleeping Harry in James' arms. Harry had fallen asleep on the walk home. James had been terrified of waking him up, so he made Lily walk slowly so that he wouldn't jostle him. The young parents smiled at their son, and then at each other. They sat that way for a long time, just gazing at each other. Finally, Harry started to squirm, and he broke the lovers out of their gaze.

"We should probably," Lily began.

"Put him to bed? Yeah," James finished.

Carefully, James stood up and walked up the stairs to Harry's room with Lily following close behind. Lily got him out of his frog costume and into his pajamas. James tried to put him in his crib, but as soon as he put him down, Harry began to wail.

"Oh no!" James exclaimed. "Not this again."

"I thought we were through that stage," Lily moaned.

"I guess not," James said and picked Harry up again. As soon as he was being held again, Harry stopped crying and snuggled closer to his father's chest. James sighed.

"Are we going to sit with him or are we going to take him to bed with us?" he asked.

"We're all exhausted," Lily said, then paused for a moment. "It's funny. When we weren't parents, we could stay up until dawn. Now look at us."

"Yeah," James agreed. "Parenting can do that to a person."

"Let's just take him to bed with us. What harm could it do? And he really is such a snuggle bug!" Lily said, taking Harry in her arms. James grinned.

"Alright," he said. And with that, they got themselves ready for bed, and with Harry between them, nestled under the covers.

In the darkness, James smiled at his wife. "I love you Lily," he said. Lily smiled back.

"I love you too, James," she replied. Harry started to squirm. Lily's tender smile widened. "And you too my love bug! Mama loves you." And she placed a kiss on his forehead.

James smiled at his son. "And daddy loves you," he said, and he too placed a kiss on his son's head. "And we always will."

As Lily fell asleep that night, she realized that this too, was another precious moment that she wished could last forever. And in her heart, it did.

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**A/N: here you go! Sorry it took awhile. Please review! I am trying to post as many chapters for as many of my stories as possible and reviews make it all worthwhile. Although I must say, I did enjoy writing this chapter, as it is one of those fluff pieces I love ****I hope you liked it! Happy Summer!**


	3. First Words

**A/N: Harry's first word:**

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Ever since Harry had begun to make noises, Lily, James and even Sirius had been trying to get him to utter his first word. However, none of them agreed on what it should be.

For instance, in the mornings, it was always Lily who fed and then played with Harry for an hour or so before James woke up.

"Harry, can you say mama?"

Harry just stared at her, his mouth opening and closing as he was trying to make spit bubbles.

"Mama, Harry, mama."

Again, her son paid no attention to her whatsoever, and was now intensely concentrating on a bubble that he had managed to grow to the size of his little fist.

"Mamamamama," Lily babbled, trying to get her son to copy.

Silence.

"Mamamamamamamama," she tried again. Nothing happened.

"Harry, come on baby! Just say mama! We've been working on this for the last few days, and you almost got it yesterday. Mama would so appreciate it if you would say her name before Daddy's or Sirius's. Now let's try this again." She stuck her face quite close to her toddler's. "Mamamamamamama," she said, her mouth moving excessively so as to give Harry the idea.

At that moment, James came downstairs. He saw Harry in his highchair and Lily muttering ridiculously at him. James wanted to laugh, but instead he collected himself and waltzed into the kitchen.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing?" he announced. Lily looked up, startled. When she saw it was James, she half scowled and half gazed at him in mild alarm.

"Nothing really," she said, trying cover up what she had been doing. It would do no good for her progress if her husband saw what she had been up to.

"Does nothing involve plotting against me so that our son says your name before he says mine?"

Lily tried to look affronted. "Plotting against you? How could you accuse me of something like that?"

James shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, _nothing really_, I just heard you speaking nonsense to Harry, that's all. I thought we said that his first word should be something neutral and that we would work so that he says, 'mama' and 'dada' at the same time."

Lily shook her head. "I remember agreeing to no such thing," she exclaimed. "You were the one who came up with the idea, not me."

James's expression turned smug. "Well then, I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but if it's a war of the names you want, it's a war you've got."

He quickly plucked Harry out of his highchair and began the uttering's of "dadadadada," over and over again.

And a war is precisely what happened. For the next week, Lily and James spent as much time as they could with Harry, trying to get him to say either 'mama' or 'dada.' As soon as Sirius caught wind of what was happening, he joined in the festivities too. As soon as he arrived at the Potters for whatever reason, he would immediately go to Harry and try and get him to say his nickname (he had quickly learned that Sirius was far too difficult.)

"Padfoot, Padfoot, Paaadfooooot," Sirius exclaimed with Harry sitting in his godfather's lap. Sirius got about as much response as the little boy's parents did.

Finally after about a week into it, all three adults were sitting in the living room next to the fire, tired and strained. Harry was sitting on the floor, playing with blocks, and occasionally emitting high pitched squeals when the tower he was making tumbled over.

Sirius glared half-heartedly at his best friend's son. "This is impossible," he exclaimed. "Why can't he make that much noise when I'm trying to get him to say my name?"

James rolled his eyes. "Padfoot isn't even your name, Sirius," he said. Sirius turned his glare to his friend.

"And dada isn't yours," he said angrily.

"Will you two just cut it out?" Lily snapped. "I am so done with hearing the words 'dada' and 'Paaadfooot.' You two are driving me crazy!"

James looked angry. "And you think listening to you mutter, mamamama as often as you can is enjoyable? You're not the only one who's suffering!"

Sirius glanced between husband and wife. "We're all miserable. I just want things back to the way they used to be, before this crazy 'war' between us." He sighed. "How about a truce. We'll let Harry's first word be the one he picks up on his own, and we won't try to interfere. Agreed?"

Lily and James looked relieved. "Yes," James said eagerly.

"Agreed," Lily nodded. Sirius smiled happily.

"Finally!" he said, leaning back in his seat, arms behind his head in a laid back position. "No more fighting. Now we can all relax and not worry about this 'first word' business." Suddenly, he looked up, excited. "Now who wants a game of Exploding snap!"

But Sirius did not get to hear whether or not either of them wanted to play a few rounds. For at that moment, the fire shot up with a green light and Remus Lupin stepped out of the flames. The three adults turned to greet him, but all stopped in their tracks when they saw Harry look up from his blocks at Remus' arrival, and grin widely from ear to ear, before happily exclaiming:

"Moo'y!"

Seriously?

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**A/N: I just thought I'd add this in. It's really short (even by my standards) because I wrote it in less than an hour but I hope you like it anyway! Review!**


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